Reporters in general agree to OTR/background too readily. But in a case where a *company spox is calling you* to discredit a story, they’d damn well better be ready to go on the record.
And please spare us this “not authorized to comment publicly” horseshit. You’re working to advance your company’s interests. If you’re not authorized, GET authorized or stop wasting reporters’ time.
Reporters who play ball with this garbage are just incentivizing PR to game attribution rules. “Hey, we’d rather not be accountable for spinning reporters. So give them the line, but you’re ‘not authorized’ to go on the record <wink wink>.”
“Not authorized” is a legitimate reason for anonymity when an employee is genuinely off the reservation, not when they’re carrying out orders to speak unaccountably.
